


-Discontinued Series-

by orphan_account



Series: -Discontinued- [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor Angst, Minor Injuries, Minor Original Character(s), Summer, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6935677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two 14 year-old boys are off to summer camp. Though neither of them were really eager to go, they find the camp to be pretty fun. The counselors are kind and the huge camp territory offers plenty of free space for activities and such. These two young boys, Max Haulder and Elliot Kingston, quickly gravitate towards each other once they enter the camp. Though they're only acquaintances, the relationship between them is the strongest relationship for either of them compared to the rest of the campers. Perhaps it's out of loneliness, spite, or anxiety, but the relationship that was once innocent turns to something more before their very eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	-Discontinued Series-

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I'll start off by admitting that I have absolutely 0 experience with this site. Now that that's out of the way, you can judge me all you want. Anyways.. This story isn't about a particular fandom, it stars two characters I made up on my own. Is.. Is that allowed? I really do have no idea what I'm doing. Help me out here, bud.

“Don’t forget to send us postcards!” Max’s mother calls.  
“I know, Mom.” Max turns back towards his house and waves goodbye to his parents. He can’t help but smile as he steps onto the bus and hauls his suitcase up behind him. He looks down the middle of the bus aisle, searching for an empty seat.  
“There’s a new kid,” Max hears someone say near the front. This causes him to hesitate more, wondering what the others thought of him.  
“Pick a seat,” the bus driver says gruffly, pulling Max out of his thoughts. Max nods and walks past the two front rows. The growling of the bus’s engine grows louder, urging Max to pick the nearest seat and try to cope with a stranger. His smile had faded by now.  
Max hurriedly sits down next to a random kid. He glances at the boy and immediately sees golden-speckled green eyes staring directly at him. The pair of eyes belong to an average-sized boy with hair so blonde it's almost white and fair skin with cheeks tinted with the lightest of pink. Max offers an awkward smile and turns away, though he still feels the boy's eyes on him as the bus ride begins.

\- -

“Alright, boys! Everyone off the bus! One line for the restaurant, one line for the bathroom!” A loud voice makes Elliot jump, waking him with a start. He rubs the side of his head that had been pressed against the window for most of the two hour bus ride. The strong aching on the side of his head hinted at fact that his head had been rising away from the window and dropping back down each time they hit a bump in the road.  
“Face bruises, lovely,” he mumbles to himself. He wasn’t expecting it, so the reply from the kid sitting next to him startled him a little.  
“I brought an extra pillow,” the boy next to him says quietly. “The bus ride’s almost over, since this is our last stop before we get there, but you can use it ‘til then.”  
Elliot pauses before grinning sheepishly. “Y’know, I don’t really think I need it,” he says.  
“But you just said your head was gonna bruise. Take it, I won’t be sleeping.” The boy shoves the pillow into Elliot's lap and stands up, leaving the bus in a hurry before Elliot could give the pillow back. Elliot finds himself smiling softly at the back of the kid's head as his shining brown hair vanishes from view.  
“Well,” Elliot murmurs to no one in particular with a smirk forming on his lips. “I guess I just have to accept it.” He gets up and walks off the bus, following after the rest of the campers.

Elliot trudges up the stairs of the bus, carrying a small paper bag containing a chicken sandwich and some fries. Since he had been one of the last kids to get off the bus, he had to wait in line for almost the entirety of the rest break. The camp counselor had rushed all of them along, and when it was Elliot’s turn in line, the counselor yelled at him to make a decision and get on the damn bus. Apparently, they were very behind schedule due to multiple issues along the way.  
“Everyone in your seat!” the counselor calls down the bus aisle, and all the kids messing around in the aisle immediately take their seats. Elliot hurries to his seat and sees the brown-haired kid with a set of heavy headphones on. He nudges the boy’s leg with his own, getting the boy to shift his knees to the side. There’s a moment of hesitation where a tiny feeling of anxiety drips in his stomach as he debates for less than a second between facing towards the kid or facing away from him. It was weird either way, Elliot decides. He inches past the boy awkwardly, facing away from him. He plops down into his seat and remembers the pillow squashed between the armrest and the bus wall. His mood improves a little as he glances over at the boy sitting next to him with a grateful look in his eyes. The boy was looking at him through the corner of his eye, with what would’ve been a strange look to get if he were facing directly towards him. It was a cross between curiosity and an unidentifiable type of intensity. It wasn’t a look that Elliot got very often, though he took pride in being able to read people’s facial expressions. Elliot mentally shrugs it off and leans his head against the pillow. Out of sheer curiosity, he takes a chance and turns his face towards the pillow. Inhaling the scent of citrus shampoo and flowery conditioner brings a smile upon his face. He can tell that the conditioner scent is the same kind that his mother used, which amuses him greatly. Some teenage boy using the same type of conditioner as his mom is something Elliot found funny, for whatever reason.

Elliot wakes up as the bus comes to a sharp halt, jerking some of the kids forward a little. There’s a small yell of complaint, mainly from the back of the bus, where apparently all the “rebels” were sitting. He suddenly notices that his face is pressed into the pillow, still catching the sweet and sour scent every time he breathes in. With his cheeks turning a little pinker than usual, he lifts his head from the pillow and offers it back to the kid next to him.  
“Thanks for letting me use it,” Elliot says as the kid tucks the pillow into his backpack. “What’s your name?”  
The kid looks up at him, and something stirs in Elliot’s stomach as the kid speaks. “I’m Max Haulder.” His voice is quiet with a tinge of irritation, though Elliot can tell it’s not directed at him. “You?”  
“Elliot Kingston.” Elliot holds out his hand, offering for a handshake. Max takes his hand firmly but quickly drops it as a few kids from the back of the bus start walking towards the front. His tanned face turns a little red as one of the kids passing by pauses and claps Max on the shoulder, startling him. The kid seems older than Max, but the shapes of their faces and the colors of their hair and practically identical.  
“Make some friends,” the kid says in a deep voice. “Make sure you’re not lonely.” The older boy cracks a smile. “M’kay?”  
Max looks over his shoulder with a half-hearted smile. “Got it.” The older kid keeps walking, and Elliot sees the flash of a co-counselor badge on his backpack.  
“Is that your brother?” Elliot asks. “You two look almost exactly alike.”  
Max turns back towards him. “Yeah, he’s one of the co-counselors here. Been coming every year all through middle school and all through high school so far.”  
“What year is he in?” Elliot asks.  
“Sophomore,” Max replies shortly. Elliot takes the hint and reaches into his bag for a book, ending the conversation. If it were up to him, they would have kept on talking until they were divided into cabins. Elliot couldn’t help but compare Max’s voice to melted gold. The only improvement, according to Elliot, would be his brother’s voice.  
Elliot snaps himself out of his thoughts, remembering that he needs his glasses. Ah, crap. Let’s just ditch the books for now. He slides the book back into his backpack and stares out the window at the group of counselors and co-counselors discussing how to organize all the campers. A few minutes later, after the bus has gotten completely out of control with campers jumping over seats and running up and down the aisle, Max’s brother and a few other co-counselors step up onto the bus and hold up their hands. This does very little to cease the minor chaos, so Max’s brother speaks up.  
“Quiet!” he yells. The bus is silenced in mere seconds, all eyes turned towards the older boy. “Alright, that’s better. We can work with this.”  
A tall man steps up onto the bus and looks around at all the campers. His expression turns quickly from serious to joyful. This sudden change makes Elliot a little uneasy. He can tell that the grin isn’t as genuine as it may seem to others. Shifting in his seat, Elliot pokes Max in the arm.  
“What is it?” Max whispers, turning to face Elliot. Max can apparently tell that Elliot is uneasy. Granted, it’s easy to tell; Elliot is the type to shift around noticeably and cross his arms if he’s uncomfortable.  
“D’you think there’s something off about that guy?” Elliot whispers, scared that someone else will overhear.  
“Mr. Davey?” Max whispers in disbelief. “My brother says he’s one of the nicest people he’s met. He’s the camp owner.”  
Elliot decides to take Max’s word for it, though there’s still an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind. Oh well.

\- -

Max watches out of the corner of his eye as the blonde boy shifts his gaze back to Mr. Davey. It’s fairly obvious that he’s anxious, and frankly, Max thinks he’s overreacting. From what his brother has told him, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of the staff. This kid next to him, though he’s adorable, seems a bit annoying. Max links his hands together behind his head and leans against the pillow that he wishes he had during the trip. Turns out he really did have to sleep.  
“Welcome, campers!” Mr. Davey says. “Welcome to Smokeburn Camp!”  
A few of the new campers applaud lightly, but Mr. Davey holds up his hand and shushes them. “No applause please, there'll be plenty of time for applause later." He takes a moment to look at all the new campers before continuing. "Alright! Any veterans we've got will come off the bus first. Up you go, we're a little behind schedule this afternoon!"  
A good majority of the campers on the bus stand up and walk out into the aisle before hurrying off the bus. Max doesn't blame them for rushing; it had gotten ridiculously warm in the halted bus. That, and it's already late afternoon. The sun is threatening to dip into the horizon, so max guesses that it's around 4 pm.  
"Now, all you new campers, follow Josh Golding." Mr. Davey gestures towards a rather lanky boy wearing just about the definition of camping clothes. He had clearly been here many times before.  
"I'll show you guys the cabins and stuff, but we'll have to make this quick, alright?" Josh looks at all the new campers as they begin to shift around, eager to leave the bus. “Everyone up and off the bus. Try to be orderly,” he adds, but all the kids are already up and moving.  
There’s quite a bit of congestion in the bus aisle as the new campers all try to exit the bus at once. Max counts each time someone steps on his foot; by the time he’s off the bus, the number is up to eleven. By now, he’s a bit more doubtful about how much he’ll like the people around him.  
His brain sinks into another tangent, analyzing the looks of everyone around them and playing around with what they might be like. He glances at Elliot and starts to wonder a bit more. Besides anxious, what does this kid really have going for him? Honestly, Max had found him a little creepy earlier on the bus. He had seen out of the corner of his eye as Elliot had pressed his face against Max’s pillow and stayed there until he fell asleep.  
This isn’t the time to get lost in thought, Max tells himself. I’d better pay attention and memorize as much as I can.  
Josh leads the new campers all through the huge campgrounds, letting the kids glance into all the cabins.  
The cabins are all orderly and well-kempt, with two sets of bunk beds and two four-drawer dressers. The floors are a little dusty, but they’re completely clean. There’s even a small plastic mat by the door meant for wet shoes. Each cabin has a small lock on the door.  
“Will all of us get keys to our cabin?” one young camper asks excitedly.  
“Nope.” Josh pats the top of the kid’s head. “Only the counselors get the keys.”  
The kid pouts a little and pushes Josh's hand away from his curly brown hair.  
The tour continues normally after that, with occasional questions from the other campers. Max mentally notes each question that's asked, and tries to interpret each vague answer that Josh gives. While the high-schooler is quaint and friendly, he can't seem to be bothered to answer questions in depth.  
After a while of walking through tall grass and over streams, the group comes to a forest.  
“Alright, kiddos. You'll hear about this forest a lot. Mr. Davey will warn you about this forest every night, and for a good reason. This campsite is right next to a spot in the first where homeless people and axe murderers love to hang out.” Josh scans the crowd and, seeing disbelieving faces, adds to the little spiel. “I was only partially joking. You guys need to be cautious whenever you're in the forest.”  
The no-joke tone of voice that accompanies Josh's last two sentences earn some more seriousness from his audience.  
“Understood?” Josh crosses his arms. Most of the campers nod, which satisfies Josh.  
“Alright then, let's get back to the camp.” And with that, the small crowd walked back towards the camp just as the sky is beginning to darken.


End file.
